Band Aid
by CineMariel
Summary: Every time Nick and Jess address what's going on between them it's like using a band aid. It's time they figure out how they really feel about each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I really felt like writing this after I watched "Table 34." This chapter takes place at the beginning of the episode. **

A band aid. That's what it felt like. Every time Nick and Jess addressed each other it was like putting a band aid over a bleeding, gushing wound. It'll work for a little while but it can't fix what's really going on.

When Nick and Jess brushed their teeth next to each other after she ran away from him, when Nick didn't move in with Caroline, when they agreed that they were friends who were sometime attracted to each other... all band aids.

But that kiss.

_That was the most band aid-y band aid of them all_, Nick thought to himself before wincing at how awkwardly it was phrased. How long could he keep doing this weird dance with her?

And if the kiss was a band aid, what was the wound? That they were attracted to each other? That they liked each other? That they _loved_ each other?

He shuddered at that word and everything it meant and how easily it had popped into his mind.

"Shit," whispered to himself, head in his hands.

The kiss had been amazing. But he still couldn't honestly say why he did it. They had spent most of the night in confined quarters with people chanting for them to do it, he easily could have gotten it out of his system then. But for some reason, kissing her that way felt wrong. It felt distant and impersonal which was the opposite of how he felt about Jess.

Even though they had only known each other for about a year and a half, he felt very close to her. He knew what kind of toothpaste she used, because she always lets him have some when he forgets to buy it for himself. He knows what movies she watches when she's sad and what outfits she wears when she thinks she's going to get lucky. If there's one thing Nick knows, he knows Jess. Doesn't he?

Then why couldn't he figure out how she felt about the kiss? All he knew was that, for now, he needed to stay the hell away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: This chapter takes place after "Table 34." Enjoy!**

She didn't want to listen to Taylor Swift alone. But that didn't mean she wanted to listen to her with Nick.

He was the reason she was single again. He was the reason Sam left. All for a kiss that he let her know, meant absolutely nothing to her. So why couldn't she tell him to go away?

Oh wait, she could.

"Go away, Nick," she snapped at him.

Nick stopped dancing.

"Look, Jess-"

"No, 'look Jess'!" she told him. "I am mad at you. You homewrecked me and Sam and you know how much I liked him!"

"I'm sorry, Jess. I didn't mean for that to happen." he frowned, avoiding her eyes.

"Then what did you mean?" she asked.

"By what?" he shifted nervously, eying the door.

Jess moved her body so that she was in front of the exit, he was not going to get away from her.

"The kiss," she answered plainly. "Why did you kiss me?"

"I told you, Jess. It didn't mean anything." Nick told her.

"Oh, okay," Jess' words dripped with sarcasm. "Then you won't mind if I do this."

She walks up to him, fully intending to plant one on him when he dodges her.

"What are you doing, Jess?" he practically screams.

"If you can give me a meaningless kiss, why can't I give you one?" Jess challenges him. It wouldn't be the first time one of them tried to use a kiss to prove the other wrong.

"Because..."

Before he can think of an answer he's dodging another kiss from Jess. With no other way to avoid her, Nick turns and runs away from her. Jess chases him around and around the couch.

"Get back here, Miller!" she screams, determined to catch him, fully aware that this is one of the weirder things she's done. And that is saying something.

Finally she tackles him, pinning him to the ground.

"Why won't you kiss me?" Jess asks, searching his eyes.

"Because it would mean something!" Nick yells without thinking.

Jess' eyes widen in surprise as she loosens her grip on his wrists.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you like it! **

"Explain," Jess orders, speaking more gently that she had been before.

"I kissed you for a reason," Nick tells her. "I just don't know what the reason is."

This stings Jess. It shouldn't. After all, they're just friends. Why should she be upset that Nick didn't kiss her because he's deeply in love with her and he's never been more sure of anything in his life? He doesn't owe her that and she doesn't want that, right?

"Every time you and I go down that path it's like we're putting a band aid on it and just solving it for the moment, you know?" Nick explains, looking up at her helplessly.

She nods. This makes a lot of sense to her. Every moment between them seems to just patch up the situation at hand and never seems to fix whatever is bubbling beneath the surface between them.

"Maybe part of me thought the kiss would solve it," he admits.

"If anything it tore it open," Jess tells him.

"Yeah, I get that now," Nick laughs at himself. "Are you going to let go of me?"

"If I do will you run?" she asks.

"Maybe,"

"Then I'm not letting you go," she smiles at him, unable to hide her genuine affection for him. No matter what was going on, she cares about him.

She shakes her head, trying to focus on the task at hand rather than the roommate she was straddling.

"What could it be, then?" she asks him.

"What?" he asks, also having trouble concentrating with Jess siting on top of him.

"The thing between us," Jess did her best not to focus on his lips as he talked. But it wasn't easy.

They both awkwardly looked everywhere but at one another.

"Wasn't this easier when we were just putting band aids on this and not really dealing with it?" Nick asked.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I never had to pin you to the ground back then."

"It's not the worst..." Nick smiled at her, making her blush.

"Stop it!" she yelled at him.

"What?"

"Stop being... all..." she searched for words "I don't know. Stop being cute and making me laugh. We have to talk about this! We have to figure it out before it starts affecting the loft dynamic!"

"Why?" Nick asked. "I kissed you. You kissed me back. We don't know what it means yet and we're not going to figure out until..."

"Until what?" Jess asked, leaning in.

"Until we kiss again and see if it was a one time thing or not."

Jess blushed. She let go of his wrists, letting him sit up beneath her. Was he serious? Kiss again? Could that help?

"Okay," she mumbled.

"Okay?" Nick asked.

"Okay, let's kiss." Jess said.

"Okay, then," Nick looked at her.

They look at one another, sizing each other up. Nick leans in a bit, but second guesses himself and pulls back. Jess puckers her lips before frowning.

"This is awkward," Jess says.

"It really is," Nick says.

"We can't just kiss on the spot," Jess says.

"Right," Nick agrees.

"So maybe we just... surprise each other," Jess suggests.

"Surprise each other?" Nick asks.

"Sometime this week... one of us will kiss the other one." Jess says. "That way, it's spontaneous, but not out of nowhere. Sometime this week, I'll kiss you or you'll kiss me... and we'll know."

"Sounds good to me," Nick replies, smiling.

"Great," she extends her hand to him and he shakes it.

"You should probably get off my lap now," Nick tells her.

"Oh, right."


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: This is the final chapter of Band Aid! I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you'd like me to write a sequel next or another story. I really love writing for these two. **

After Nick kissed her the first time, he had been unavoidable. No matter how hard she tried to stay away from him he was always there. Now that the two of them were attempting to kiss again, they couldn't get a moment alone. Winston and Schmidt were everywhere. If Jess didn't know better she'd say they were trying to keep them apart.

Even though it seemed like it would never happen, Jess was determined to be prepared for the event. If she and Nick were going to kiss again it should be under the best possible circumstances. She was wearing her favorite dresses, constantly applying lip balm, and brushing her teeth four times a day.

On Tuesday, Jess was leaving her room to make dinner when she saw Nick walking through the door. She caught his eye and he smiled. Without thinking she made a beeline for him, fully intending to wrap her arms around his neck and-

"Jessica, are you just going to stand there or are you going to help us with the groceries?" Schmidt cried. Jess deflated.

"Sure, Schmidt," she agreed, shoulders slumping forward.

Nick shot her an apologetic look.

That night, Jess was alone in her room wondering if this was a good idea. Maybe she and Nick were being silly. How was this kiss going to fix anything? It wasn't. It was just going to make her more confused. Sure, that first kiss had been incredible. It had been spontaneous after a night of build up. Just when she'd accepted that it wasn't going to happen, it did. But was it the circumstance that made it great or the person?

She thought about Nick. Nick Miller. One of her closest friends. Who worked at a bar and dressed like he was still in college. Who almost moved in with a girl who had already broken his heart three times. Who got drunk at the zoo trying to be Ernest Hemingway. Who tried to water massage her when she'd hit bottom. Who turned the lights on at candy cane lane for her. Who'd built her a dresser because he cares about her.

She stood up. Nick Miller was worth the risk. She had to see if they could make it work.

There was a knock at her door.

Jess' heart pounded.

She ran to it, trying to catch her breath before she answered it.

"Ni-"

But she was interrupted by a frazzled Cece who walked past her into her room.

"Jess, I'm so sorry. Winston let me in. I'm having a crisis."

"Cece calm down, what's going on?"

It turned out, that Cece was up for a huge job but her agent had just quit. Not only quit on Cece, but quit being an agent. This meant that all of her portfolio work and her resume that he had organized was gone. And if Cece didn't have a portfolio for her audition tomorrow at three, there was no way she was getting the job.

Jess and Cece poured over the internet finding images of Cece and printing them out on glossy paper. Jess interviewed Cece, trying to remember every single job she'd ever gone on.

"What was that diet pill you did a campaign for last year?" Jess asked, throwing her hair up in a sloppy bun and rolling up her sleeves.

"The Weight Dropper," Cece told her "and I did that in December of 2011."

"Right," Jess added it to the long list.

Four hours later, Cece was asleep on her bed and they had a passable portfolio. Jess closed the door behind her quietly, walking towards the bathroom when she heard a noise. It was the front door.

"Nick?" she asked.

"Jess? What are you doing up?" he looked exhausted.

"Cece had an emergency."

"Is everything okay?" he looked concerned, taking a few steps toward her.

"Yeah, it's fine. Where were you?"

"Late shift at work," Nick says "I only had to dodge puke twice so it was a pretty quiet night."

Jess laughed.

"Well, I was just about to get ready for bed, so..." Jess trails off and they both seem to realize something at the same time.

They're alone.

But Jess was wearing jeans and an old sweater and she hadn't brushed her teeth or applied lip balm in the past six hours. This was far from perfect.

"We're alone," Nick says.

"Yeah, everyone else is asleep." Jess agrees.

"You still want to do this, right?" Nick asks.

"Yeah, but-"

"We don't have to if you don't want to. If you're worried or changed your mind or something it's okay. Because there are so many reasons for us not to do this. Schmidt would kill us and Winston-

Jess closed the gap in between them so that her lips were almost touching his.

"Nick," she started, trying to find the right way to say this. "I want this. And not because I think it'll fix things between us for now. But because I want to try this with you."

"Really?" he asked, his hand trailing up her arm.

"Surprised?" she asks, grinning at him.

Instead of answering Nick leaned forward and his lips met hers. It was different than there first kiss, it was softer. Jess' was pulling him to her by his collar and Nick cupped her chin and the kiss deepened. Jess ran her hands through his hair as Nick trailed his hand down her neck, her arm, reaching her waist and eliminating any space that was left between them.

Nick broke this kiss, leaning his forehead against hers.

"You're sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes," she told him.

"Good," he smiled "I am too."

Jess laughed softly unable to believe this was actually happening.

"Now look sharp, dumbass," Nick said in that stupid voice he had used when she'd asked him to be mean to her. "because now we gotta tell everyone before I lose my nerve."

Jess looked at him, unsure of what to say.

"I don't want to keep you a secret," he said softly in his normal voice.

Jess was rendered speechless for a moment, she was so touched by Nick's desire to take them public. It meant that he was really serious about them. That he was really ready to be with her.

She stole one more soft kiss from him.

"Let's go," Jess said, taking him by the hand. Because even though she wasn't wearing a dress or her cherry chapstick, that kiss had been perfect.


End file.
